GOP conventioneers get guidebooks ... and 20+ percent discounts

The scoop on the Twin Cities — what to do, where to go, and what and where to eat — will be condensed into a guidebook for the thousands of folks coming to town for the Republican National Convention.

The "Official Guide Book for the Convention" will be produced by MSP Communications, publisher of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business. The guidebook will include a list of 400 hotels, restaurants and services offering discounts of at least 20 percent to the conventioneers (but not the rest of us) during the Xcel Energy Center convention Sept. 1-4.

Not known yet is whether the guidebook will be able to direct visitors to bars that will stay open long past the normal 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. closing hours. A bill to let bars remain open later — during the time conventioneers are in town — is being considered at the Capitol.